“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of any thing that is
in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God
am a jealous God,”Exodus
20:3-5a. This Old Testament stuff
doesn’t concern today’s post-modern society.
“No
other gods before me”?There
are so many other gods taking the place of
the One true God today that idol worship has
actually become the norm.

People have been inventing their own gods
for thousands of years. But nothing comes as
a surprise to God; He knew the world would
become consumed with the worship of idols
(false gods). Consequently He gave us a
commandment prohibiting the worship of all
the false gods men would eventually bring
into their lives. Today the Bible is under
constant attack and simply dismissed as
folklore. Thus idol worship has moved into
high gear. Paul explains in the first
chapter of Romans that those who worship
idols instead of the obvious true God are
fools.
“Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened.”Romans 1:21.
Why is Paul so harsh in his description of
the heart of these folks? “Who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and
worshipped and served the creature more than
the Creator”Romans 1:25a.
It’s pure foolishness to worship the created
in lieu of the Creator of the universe. “For the
invisible things of him from the creation of
the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse:”Romans 1:20.
Idol worshipers will someday stand before
the Creator Himself and when that day comes
excuses will be nonexistent.

Lucifer, the “shinning one”, at one time was
known as the “cherub that covered” “Thou art
the anointed cherub that covereth;”Ezekiel
28:14a. Now of course he’s known
by many names, none of which are at all
complimentary, but it wasn’t always that way
“…Thou
sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and
perfect in beauty. …Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou
wast created, till iniquity was found in
thee.”Ezekiel
28:12b, 15. God created Lucifer
as the most beautiful, knowledgeable, perfect in
his ways, anointed cherub of all.
Lucifer’s downfall came when it was found
that iniquity had taken the place of
perfection. Then he took his sinful prideful
attitude and attempted to usurp God’s
authority so he could become god. Lucifer
(Satan) has been convincing men to do the
same thing since he first appeared in the
Garden of Eden. Many now believe they are
their own god; they worship the created
instead of the Creator.

Idolatry and pride go hand in hand, Satan’s
pride turned into rebellion to God and
ultimately into idol worship. In Satan’s
case he worships himself. But he also wants
the world of men to worship him. Satan’s
agenda: turn men against the Creator God and
they will turn and worship anything as a
form of god. Worshipping an idol is
worshiping Satan.

The Ten Commandments were given to us by the
One true God, the Creator of the universe –
Jesus the Christ. Yet today these same Ten
Commandments are simply written off as
manmade mandates which, in the minds of the
lost, were only established to bind and
hinder the growth of humanity. The Ten
Commandments are systematically being
removed from all public view. They are not
only being ignored but there is a push on to
relegate them to obscurity. For now, though,
they are deteriorating having been placed in
a category of fables. Can you remember the
last time the subject of God’s Ten
Commandments was broached by your pastor?

The government removes the Ten Commandments
from public view every chance they get. If
they don’t remove every vestige of those old
tired commandments the ACLU files suit and
we know how much the ACLU is feared. When in
truth we should fear the One who, with His
finger, wrote those Commandments in stone.

I wonder just how many Christian churches
post the Ten Commandments so they can be
readily viewed by their congregants. Ask
most Christians today to recite the Ten
Commandments and watch how they stumble,
stammer, and squirm in their seats trying
desperately to remember even five out of
ten; many can’t accurately quote even one of
the Ten Commandments.

Yes it’s true, it is impossible for any
human being to be perfect and keep the Ten
Commandments of God, which is precisely why
God sent His only begotten Son to die in our
stead. But to no longer teach the Ten
Commandments – to simply ignore them
altogether – is tantamount to ignoring God.
Ignoring God will set in motion a complete
lack of caring about who God is coupled with
extreme apathy towards God’s word. To
neglect any part of the Bible is
foolishness. The Ten Commandments must be
taught to our children; sadly, today we need
to teach the parents as well.

God cannot be pleased with a group of people
who claim His provisions, who claim His
presence in their midst, who claim the blood
of Christ as their covering, and yet neglect
andeven
disparage His commandments. “If ye love
me, keep my commandments.”John 14:15.
Do you love Him?

This world, in which we Christians only
sojourn, is fast becoming more and more
overrun with people who are filled with
anger, hostility, greed, and hatred toward
their fellow man and toward their God. We
currently live in a world made up of men and
women intent on fulfilling every sinful
desire, who delve into all sorts of
unspeakable evil practices for no more than
a few minutes pleasure, and whose goals are
only materialistic continually. These folks
worship at the altar of Baal (Satan).

“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an
idolater, hath any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God.”Ephesians
5:5. When God is eliminated from
our lives something else must take His
place. If another gospel is preached in our
Christian churches other than the one true
Gospel, then another god is proclaimed
instead of the One true God, idol worship
has expanded into many Christian churches.
Mammon is the new idol.

Just as idol worship became a stumbling
block to Israel after they left Egypt, so it
is advancing in all societies today. Those
who have no use for the true Creator of the
universe – the God of the Holy Bible – have
their own gods (idols) which they of course
worship with all tenacity.

Many atheists are feverously attempting to
prove there is no God, that the Bible is a
myth. But if there is no God, then why are
these folks so adamant in their attempts to
disprove Him? It’s impossible to not worship
something. The foolish lost of this world
continue to worship the creature instead of
the Creator.

The Christian is just as vulnerable to idol
worship, anything that replaces Jesus Christ
in our life as pre-eminent becomes an idol.
If Jesus Christ is supreme over your life
then you are holding fast to the faith. But
the fact is many have relegated that supreme
position to the enemy of Christ. “Wait a
minute Ron, I love Jesus, and I attend
church on Sunday.” That’s fine. Let me ask
you a question. What about the other six
days and 23 hours which remain in every
week? Who’s first in your life on those days
and hours? We must understand that God is
not a part time God. “Thou shalt
have no other gods before me” He
commands us to place Him in first position
in our lives and that we never boot Him out
of that position in lieu of something we
feel is more attractive and pleasurable.

Man’s inventions can, and do, distract
people – ultimately replacing God with an
idol. Idol worship is something we must
always be mindful of. Ask yourself this
question: how much of my day is spent in the
word of God? Does anything I own, or
anything I long to own, or any activities
I’m involved in get in the way of my worship
of God and my study of His Word?

It really isn’t rocket science, people; it’s
only that old wicked Satan who wants every
human to be as lost as he and his hoard of
misfits. Idol worship can overwhelm us. We
must understand that we are endowed with
God-given attributes which are to be used to
His glory. Any time we replace God with an
idol it’s the same as slapping Him in the
face. It’s a statement we are making that
says “I love this ‘thing’ more than God.”

God’s blessings are ours to enjoy, but there
is no love for God when we attribute those
blessings to something we did on our own, or
good luck. That attitude is prideful and
satanic.

Sinful pride is the culprit for the loss of
fellowship with the one and only true and
living God. We pride ourselves on our own
greatness ultimately replacing the Creator
of the universe with an idol, in this case
“self” is that idol.

When we speak of the idol worshipers, the
stories and lessons from the Bible
immediately come to mind. Over and over
again we can read in our Bibles of the
Israelites backsliding and following after
the pagan gods and worshiping at the altar
of Baal. The imagery of what and who the
Israelites worshipped as god conjures up
images of creepy creatures and wood carved
human sex organs.

Archaeologists have found reliefs of some
incredibly odd looking forms carved into
walls which were depicted as being
worshipped as gods, some with the body of a
man and the head of a bird or the head of a
man and the body of a lion, and this is
repulsive to most of us today. But today’s
idol worshipers also worship at the altar of
Baal, only today the idols are not carved
images but they still include their idols of
sexual pleasures as well as modern
technologies. Can you think of an altar
where the majority of men, women, and
children sit, eyes fixed on their idol for
hours on end? How about those people who
sacrifice their children who are still in
the womb to their idol, the god Moloch.

All religious cults claimto
be the true source or path that leads to
God, but refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ
as the only true path to salvation are all
intertwined with idolatry. Muslims, JW’s,
Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, New Agers, even
many Catholics are idol worshipers. Even
worshiping at a Christian Church where Jesus
is neglected or subordinated to a lesser
god, and where the seeker friendly purveyors
of mammon are elevated to a position of
supremacy, is pure unadulterated evil, and
idolatrous.

Idol worship is so prevalent today that to
admit to worshiping the one true God, Jesus
the Christ, exclusively brings down the
wrath of the secular world. The exclusivity
of salvation through Jesus Christ alone is
seen as extremely intolerant to other
religions, thus we are hated by a world
which prides itself on political
correctness. But Jesus told us this is the
way it will be for all who follow Him. “If the
world hate you, ye know that it hated me
before it hated you. If ye were of the
world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I have
chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you.”John
15:18-19.

Is there anything in your life that is more
important than being Christ centered? “If any man
come to me, and hate not his father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple.”Luke
14:26. Because we love Jesus
Christ nothing comes between Him and that
love, not even our families or
self-preservation.